Giants LB Mark Herzlich continues to use his magic touch

RIDGEWOOD -- Mark Herzlich zipped down the steps and into the basement of Bookends Bookstore, where 50 or so fans were waiting for his arrival. What they saw was a hulking man whose biceps were trying desperately to escape his jacket, whose pectoral muscles bulged through the tight, black, short-sleeved short he wore underneath.
Herzlich hardly looked like a mortal figure who five years earlier was facing the fight of his life while battling a rare form of bone cancer, Ewing's sarcoma. His glazed complexion and tight Mohawk provided no indication that the 246-pound Giants linebacker almost never made it to his mid-20s, let alone the NFL.

As Herzlich, 26, made his entrance to the basement of this quaint bookstore in the quiet village of Ridgewood, he was greeted with a resounding round of applause and a scream of, "You're a hero, Mark!" This is the effect Herzlich has on people, many of whom are cancer survivors or have lost someone to the disease, and the football aspect is only a bit piece in his story.
On this evening, as he promotes his new book "What It Takes: Fighting for My Life and My Love of the Game," Herzlich is met with an introduction usually reserved for All-Pro quarterbacks, not a backup linebacker and special teams ace.

But, Herzlich isn't your normal pro athlete. That's obvious as he works the room, first with a speech that inspires, then by taking questions, telling stories (including a great one about his dad and the last play of Super Bowl XLVI), signing books and taking pictures with fans, most of whom take the opportunity to slip on his Super Bowl ring. Sporadically throughout the evening, there are dabs of the eyes to wipe away tears.

It's quite easy to see that there's something special going on: Herzlich connects with everyone, and he makes it look so amazingly easy.

It wasn't always that way, he says. Not so long ago, he was admittedly a teenager hesitant around strangers and unable to comfortably talk with girls.

"I was never the guy who could walk into a room and be friends with everybody. I was a little standoffish," Herzlich said, before he and his fiancée Danielle left for an appearance on the 'Olbermann' show. "Once I got diagnosed, it was like everything I did was viewed in the public. I learned to try and put on this image that I'm outwardly OK for people to feel comfortable around me, even when I wasn't.

"I wanted to learn to be cool with them. So I learned that finding something they can relate to makes a connection that is not fake. It makes it real and helps me remember them as well."

As real as can be
The line that zig-zagged through the basement at Bookends had quite the variety. Tim Waples, 32, of Emerson, himself a cancer survivor, appreciated Herzlich using the platform he has been given in a positive way. There was a woman whose mother died from cancer who wanted to hear more about his story. There was a child who had been through health struggles of his own and Ed "G Monster" Yannette, 40, of Rockaway, a Giants fan who was there for the autographs and more than a few pictures with the linebacker. Herzlich willingly consented to them all.

After roughly 40 minutes, the crowd dispersed. Herzlich had sent them home with a smile and the feeling of a connection.

Waples is a survivor. His brother-in-law, Rich Kabobjian, is a Boston College fan (where Herzlich attended college). They were admittedly inspired and connected with his story.

"He saw where he was. He was in the face of death. They said what, 10 percent or 3 percent chance for him to survive? And he's where? He's a New York Giant ... and he's a Super Bowl champ, too. That's why we came out," Waples said. "And he couldn't have been better [to us]."

It's like that at almost every stop of Herzlich's book tour, which wraps Saturday at Words Bookstore (5 p.m.) in Maplewood. Like on this night, each fan seems to have a brief, yet fulfilling conversation with Herzlich. He manages to relate to every single one of them, whether it was through cancer, hospitals, doctors, Boston College, football or the enormous diamond-studded Super Bowl ring that was passed around like champagne on New Year's Eve.

This is the effect Herzlich seems to have on people. It's an all-encompassing ability to relate to fans, admirers of all kinds.

Mellissa Bush, a physical therapist from Wayne, N.J., wanted a book for her brother, Danny, who himself has been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma. She wanted a signed copy of Herzlich's book for her brother to use as motivation as he goes through chemotherapy treatments.

"As soon as I heard my brother had it, first thing was like, 'Mark Herzlich had it. He's playing football. You'll be OK,'" Bush said. "I'm sure it definitely helps him. Look at this guy, pretty much the same age as my brother, went from the low of the low and this sarcoma treatment is really, really bad. To go from that level to make it as far as he did, I think my brother knew, 'I can do this.' Mark was great."

Dana Spina, a sixth-grade teacher at Grover Cleveland Middle School in West Caldwell, was picking up a book for a former student, now of high school age and a football player, just like Herzlich.

Not surprisingly, Herzlich had already talked to the young man about his battle. He had also previously conversed with Spina over Facebook.

This appears to be the norm. Herzlich's fame and experiences seem to make the oncology wards spread throughout the country look small.

Still, the chance to meet Herzlich and provide additional support to her former student was an opportunity Spina wasn't going to miss.

"He'll love [the book]. Any little bit helps," Spina said. "He has a great support system. The whole town is behind him. But every bit of inspiration helps. When you're 18 and this happens, you don't know what the future will be. So if he knows this is possible …"

Spreading the word
The book idea dates back to when Herzlich was in the midst of radiation treatment. It was during that difficult time that he was given a copy of Tedy Bruschi's book "Never Give Up."

In it, Bruschi, a former New England Patriots linebacker, wrote that this was his way of responding to all the letters he didn't have time to answer.

Herzlich realized that, once he recovered, he would do the same.

"I thought it was a cool way of giving back to people. I wanted to first of all, talk to people, share my story and then I realized I was giving people inspiration," he said. "And the silver lining in the whole thing to me was being able to help people."

The hope is that the book spreads his message even more. Keep fighting. Never give up. We're all stronger and tougher than we ever imagined. Remain humble. Take advantage of your opportunities. Stay true to who you are and enjoy those closest to your heart. If the fight through cancer taught him anything, it's to enjoy the moments in the moment.

"I decided it wasn't about how I want to die, because that is something I couldn't control. It was about how I wanted to live," he said "I wanted to take that extra risk [in treatment] because I wanted to have that fuller life. People ask me all the time: 'What's changed since you've been diagnosed? What do you do differently?

"It's really just deciding how I want to live. I don't want to go out and get hammered and forget half the night because what is the point of that? I want to remember the fun times I'm having now."

Like winning Super Bowls. Getting engaged. Spending quality time with family and friends.

But Herzlich recalls the darkest time, too -- like the day he was diagnosed and told his chances of beating the killer disease were low. He went to the movies with his brother that afternoon, after snapping at him earlier in the day, to try and take his mind off the terrible news. It didn't work.

That and many other forgettable moments were locked away somewhere, until they were brought out by the book. Others weren't. They remain near the forefront of his thoughts, but still weren't easy to put on paper.

"I remember sitting there and thinking what would be the best way to die right now," Herzlich recalled. "And going through my mind and saying, 'This could happen.' Do I want to get hit by a bus? Do I want to die in my sleep? Anything but suffering through cancer.

"That was [a] hard [chapter] to write."

But it was during his struggles that he received the inspiration to become a positive force in other people's lives. One moment, in particular, likely led to the book -- and to the lines of people at stadiums and bookstores who want to hear his story and share theirs.

While still a student at Boston College, Herzlich received an email request from a woman whose friend had lost his battle with cancer: Would it be OK if she were buried in a "Mark Herzlich Beat Cancer" T-shirt?

"I remember reading that message on my computer in my dorm room and sitting back and thinking that is real. That is someone's last thought that they felt such a connection to me and I've never met them before," he said. "That they want the last thing they ever wear to be my jersey. It was kind of at that point I had to take a step back and be like, 'Man, is this something I really want to do?' Because I'm gong to affect people in ways I never imagined. Am I going to be OK with doing that?

"I kind of had to make that decision and figured if I'm going to get through this and come out cancer-free, then anything that gets thrown my way, I'm going to embrace it, because I want as many people to join me as a survivor as possible."

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